11.28.2008

So thanksgiving is over and it was nice. It wasn't nearly as nice as going to my grandma's house to eat dinner in my childhood home, but it was nice. I mostly spent the whole time thinking about how my kids were having Thanksgiving at home, their home, their childhood home. Sure they're young, but we aren't moving. This is it! This is the house they will think of and the kitchen they will think of and the table they will think of when they imagine a nice cozy homey Thanksgiving. And that makes me really happy.

11.25.2008

My "new" kitchen table and chairs. The only thing better than finding something cute for $3 is finding something cute for free. My mom was storing this set, and before that it was in my great grandma's kitchen.

I really had to scrub scrub scrub to get it shiny. The seats are vinyl-y with grooves and were pretty dirty. I spent about ten minutes spraying stuff all over the first one, and wiping it down with a towel. I was slowly but surely removing the dirt from the grooves of the material. Emphasis on "slowly".

(Left seat untouched, right scrubbed down--the photos are dark because I couldn't resist setting it up and taking pictures the very night I brought it home.)

Then I suddenly remembered that magic erasers exist. It took me I think 45 seconds to get the second seat clean. It also removed dirt from the metal that I had given up on. Those crazy magic erasers. Whoever invented them should get some kind of award.

I'm still trying to sort out why I started this blog. I suppose it's a way for me to catalog the thoughts I have that are not related to mom duties. I love being a mom. It's my favorite. Really. I think it's the coolest job on the planet. But I have all of these ideas for things I want to do and make. Ideas I've had for a long time-- much longer than my 23 months of motherhood. I have an entire notebook filled with the dreams and sketches of my 18 year old self tucked away in drawer, and I peek at it sometime when I'm feeling very brave. I don't know what that me would think of this me. I'm much happier person now (who is happy when they're 18?) and I think I'd be pleased. But I know I couldn't make like, a time-traveling jump from that me to this me without feeling a bit of a hole where all of my artistic expression went. This catalog of random stuff is, I guess, a way for me to at least make a dent.

11.24.2008

More hand-drawn bird wallpaper. I really wish it was hand-drawn something else wallpaper. I love the look, but I don't think I could get past the birds in real life. At least not in like, a living area. Would be fun a nursery.

Last night I was liking the Colts win over San Diego that went on past midnight, so no post for yesterday.

11.23.2008

The homemade art look. My husband and I can draw stuff. Not like, super well, but definitely in our own style. And that's really all it takes. I've been contemplating making family portraits lately. Sort of like this.

11.22.2008

When I was young, I was fairly sure that life could actually be as it is in the musicals. I had somewhat of an obsession with renting VHS copies of old movies from our public library, and then watching wide eyed from my grandparents' living room. A lot of who I am was formed during that time period. I still want to be Cinderella, Kathy Selden, Cyd Charisse, and a Busby Berkeley chorus girl, all rolled into one. And the things I want to be surrounded by reflect this. I want my house to look like the backdrop of the way I am in my head. Sequins and all. I also want it to be the kind of magical place that my kids love to call home. Stimulating and full of fun, interesting objects. Tidy, but not stuffy. A place where anything can happen and messes can be made and cleaned up and made again.